Happy Meals should be banned

19th May 2011

Health campaigners have called for the character Ronald McDonald and McDonald's Happy Meal promotions to be banned because they attract children to junk food too much.

The campaign group called Corporate Accountability International, which has previously targeted PepsiCo and Coca-Cola over the firms' plastic bottles, took out newspaper advertisements in the form of an open letter to tell the firm's management that the mascot and the meals, which come with a free toy, can be damaging. A spokesman for McDonald's said it was committed to "responsible advertising".